#there's incredible strength in your ability to be transparent with another person regarding how they made you feel

[cerastes]

AEgirian culture seems to be one of honest appreciation and openly physical and vocal displays of affection. At least, that’s what all evidence points at.

Take Skadi, for example, who, for the safety of others, instructs them to always keep at least 2 meters of distance from her, and intentionally doesn’t socialize with almost anybody so as to not endanger them. Even if she’s like that, as Doctor build trusts with her, and even before then, you’ll find that Skadi: 

Is very chatty, seeming almost excited to be able to tell Doc about all the sorts of horrors she used to fight in the deep sea, tales of old fights, and being quite interested in sharing a drink.

Doesn’t seem to mind physical contact in the slightest, being very proud of her pearl mane and even inviting the Doctor to touch it, just so they can see how soft her hair is.

This all paints the picture of someone who really, really understands the responsibility that comes with her immense strength and with having deserted the Abyssal Hunters for the surface world, and yet, one that cannot betray her cultural and personal nature of wanting to talk with, touch, and get to know others better.

But of course, we also know that Skadi isn’t the most normal person around, right? Well, let’s talk about her polar opposite next, then: Blue Poison.

Blue Poison is on the other side of the board: She had to work very hard in order to connect with the other Operators, because everyone was afraid of the incredibly potent venom she naturally secretes, with rumors circulating that even touching BP could prove lethal. Not exactly good news when you are a legitimately sweet, social, hard working girl who likes cooking and fashion. Nowadays, Operators have come to understand that it’s only her ability that’s terrifying, but even then, there’s still some apprehension towards touch. Now, this would normally, depending on cultural background, not be too terrible, except with Blue Poison, you can tell it’s legitimately a source of stress:

Now, the above quote can easily be interpreted as a sly attempt at Holding Hands, something which wouldn’t be out of place in a mobile game interaction, but then you bring her Trust Tap line into account:

And her dialogue regarding touch takes on a different light: It’s not something romantic or sexual for her, it’s more like something she sorely misses and needs. If we subscribe to the “AEgirians have a more touchy, transparent and earnest culture of affection” theory, then it’d make perfect sense for Blue Poison, who 100% comes from AEgir and is all but confirmed to be/have been an Abyssal Hunter herself, to be crushed not only by the distance others initially took from her, but also by the fact that even if she’s accepted by the other Operators now, they are still reluctant to touch her, be that from fear (likely the main reason) or simply because the surface world is more conservative than AEgir regarding social physical interaction. Alas, poor Blue Poison probably wishes her likely-past partner, Specter, still had her memories...

And, speaking of Specter? Well, she’s not exactly subtle, either. Her demeanor, as we’ve seen, is quite afflicted due to the severe nervous system damage her Oripathy has caused, and yet it seems to have had little effect on her AEgirian forwardness, if her lines are anything to go by, and if one is to subscribe to the very likely theory that she and Blue Poison used to be partners in the past, given that BP herself is quite the social frog, it’s likely Specter was pretty social as well. We can see the vestiges of this:

Specter makes it no secret she enjoys high impact eye contact and that she wants to take you places, and especially to one place, where something very important to her is located. It is often considered awkward or even rude to maintain long periods of eye contact in some cultures during periods in which nothing is being said, but Specter seems pretty keen on wanting Doc to look right into her eyes, as well as throwing a small jab hinting at other things.

And her Trust Tap is a no holds barred “NICE” from Specter. In fact, Specter is one of the few characters in the game that actually looks very happy when you tap her in the base, instead of shocked or confused.

You know who else really enjoys unrestrained eye contact? Deepcolor.

And by the darkest depths of the ocean, Deepcolor really isn’t subtle. “Paint me in your colors” is not exactly something you can misinterpret. Deepcolor is interesting because she’s a good contrast to the rest of the AEgirians in that she’s arguably pretty openly erotic after Doc builds trust with her, whereas the others are open to interpretation (and you wouldn’t be at fault for also considering their intents sexual, but again, interpretation, subtext, reading between lines, the works). Deepcolor goes from 

to

The subtlety of an anvil smashing your skull in, falling from a 5th story. Talking about anvils reminds me of a good friend of mine, actually: Cuora.

Cuora seems much younger and innocent than the other AEgirians on a fundamental level. Some of this could be attributed to her amnesia, but Specter, whose amnesia is worse, does indeed exhibit a pretty close and affectionate demeanor. That said, Cuora still reacts positively to all sorts of tapping:

Which, when you contrast it with how most every Operator in the game seems to react with shock or confusion, seems to tell us that, yeah, casual physical contact seems to be perfectly normal for her.

And, you know, she’s precious in general.

Depending on how you look at it, and especially when you contrast this to the more realistic approach to intimacy most Operators showcase (most, because there’s still some Gravels and some SilverAshes out there), it all seems to point to AEgirian culture being far more intimate and touchy-feely than the surface standard (that we’ve seen so far). Casual, open appreciation. Casual, open touching.

And you know who’s a good contrast to these AEgirians? Another AEgirian: Glaucus.

Glaucus is AEgirian, but she left at an early age. As such, we can see that she does not, in fact, share the same cultural base with the other AEgirians, being a withdrawn, solitary, distant person, only really talking to Blue Poison, Mayer, Vulcan, and Closure, and even then, with the latter three only when it comes to discussing technology and machinery.

Since she left AEgir when she was very young, the culture didn’t really permeate deep in her, and she’s instead pretty different from the others. Despite this, however, she does seem pretty curious about her fellow AEgirians.

This leads credence and consistency to the theory, as the only one to not have grown up in AEgir proper is the only one without a social, physical attitude. 

It’s interesting to see how AEgir is painted as this very place where respect, appreciation and affection is considered something to express rather than repress, especially when you consider that there’s some not minor hinting towards AEgir being hostile to the surface world and having bad intentions towards it. It goes to show, once again, that Terra is a world of gray morality: One moment you see AEgir as an enigmatic place that harbors ill will to the rest of the world, and the next moment, without the former opinion being invalidated or defied, you find yourself face to face with enough evidence to conclude that AEgir has a culture of healthy displays of affection. It’s one of those millions of things that makes Arknights interesting. 

[tape-hiss]

Hello! This month's Tape Hiss is an Aetherian history lesson and is a little late, because I did a whole comic that went along with this. You can read it here, although be warned, it's NSFW. It concerns Cuppra (one of the Aetherian founders) and Suuhl (one of the reifa, or as most people including me call them, the skullbirds.) This post will expound on the comic a little bit, talking about what Aetheri was like at the time, how the war and post-war stuff unfolded, what Cuppra and Suuhl had to do with it all, and even a bit about skullbird culture.

So I've talked about the founders and the war-post-war events before both inside and outside of the comic, but even so, I think this side comic shows some things I've never really talked about before. The most immediately noticeable one is that Cuppra is hanging out in the palace--what's up with that?

What's up with it is this: Cuppra was an ethkarin, which is essentially a very fancy courtesan-slash-journalist. This occupation doesn't really exist in the same form in present-day Aetheri for reasons that will become obvious. The gist of it is that it used to be very typical for the Cynn, their spouse, and most nobility to have one or many ethkarin on the side--it wasn't a secret at all. I've talked some about the attitude towards marriage or what passes for it in Aetheri, and the weird disconnect I've mentioned between how the upper and lower classes each view sex and relationships was even more severe in pre-war times. Upper class Aetherians arranged partnerships and had children with people chosen for good breeding, or whatever, but if you didn't really much care for your designated partner, then you had  ethkarin to fill in for the rest of the relationship--intimacy, sex for the fun of it, and so on. Ethkarin were not employed just for sex, but also for their company and care. A little like hosting, but also not very much like hosting at all. Most ethkarin lived in-house; some of them had multiple clients, some of them did not.

The journalist bit of the job comes from the fact that part of being an  ethkarin involved retaining all of the goings-on in the palace and noble circles, scandalous or otherwise, and relaying this in columns in the press under a psuedonym. At this time in Aetheri, ethkarin were the only way anyone knew what went on in the palace. This part of the ethkarin job was not exactly a secret from their clients, either--it's just the way things were.

Outside of the upper classes,  ethkarin were viewed as essential parts of Aetherian society--an important ally to the regular people in keeping their rulers accountable. Aetheri has never had a puritanical view of sex, but the difference between classes is that outside of the nobility, the norm is to commit your life to whoever you like, good 'breeding' prospects aside. You love and have fun freely until you find the one person you really truly want to commit the rest of your hundreds of years to, and then you love and have fun with them for the rest of your days. Being an ethkarin was just a job, and usually this didn't clash with their actual love lives at all.

So Cuppra was one of the Cynn's ethkarin, in fact a favorite of theirs. Cynn Nadha, shown here in what used to be normal Aetherian royalty getup, was not a tyrant, or cruel, or careless...Cuppra would describe them as just sort of unable to relate to the people outside the Palace walls, which power will do to you, I suppose. Personally, the Cynn was quite nice, and Cuppra enjoyed working with them. So you can see immediately where Cuppra's role in the post-war revolution starts to appear.

(This occupation died out pretty soon after the revolt in the postwar period, because pretty much the entire upper class was deposed in one way or another, and the government that Escala instituted afterward was both way less extravagant and way more transparent. The transparency part has sort of faded over the years to present day--it's not that Numair or his predecessors take any extreme measures to hide what they're doing from the public, it's more that centuries of the government more or less being good stewards of the people has led the public to just expect the government to get on with it without having to be babysat. This has mostly worked, at least until recently.)

Aetheri in the immediate pre-war period was doing a lot of elbow-rubbing with other nations, though none so much as with the reifa, or skullbirds. To put it simply, the reifa were a very large nation with a tribal structure, and all of those tribes were represented by one figure who was voted in on an ad hoc basis. This figure during their interactions with Aetheri was Radh, the big cardinal-colored fella here.

What the Aetherian royal family wanted was to establish colonies offworld where the thyft weren't a problem; the reifa also wanted to spread abroad, as their world had little land suitable for them, apparently, and also they were adventurous types. The spirits had the magical means to establish and keep connection with offworld bases, and the reifa had the physical and otherwise strength necessary to help protect both the colonies and Aetherian cities from whatever lay beyond the borders. Thus, a partnership was born.

Suuhl was not a soldier--they were an artist. The reifa recorded things via drawings and etchings rather than through words. Even their simple hieroglyphic written language was really just shorthand drawings, and reading their language was not unlike reading road signs. Suuhl was essentially the historian brought along with the delegation to Aetheri to record whatever was worth taking note of. So Suuhl hung around the palace quite a bit, and that's how they and Cuppra met.

A note on the reifa: if you think the spirits are a little cavalier about sex, they're really nothing compared to the reifa. I'm not going to get too specific about these guys as more abut them will come out over time in the main comic, but suffice to say that sex in the culture of the reifa was a nexus for social bonding. It was as normal for friends to have sexual relationships as it would be for them to, like, plan a road trip together. Reifa were pretty loose in terms of romantic partnerships as well: polygamy was sort of the norm, but it didn't strike any of them as weird if a reifa were to have just one Big Favorite that they were romantic with. They also really, really did not care about species, so long as everyone involved was sentient and consenting.

The only strife that Cuppra and Suuhl had early on in their relationship was due to Aetherian attitude, not reifa. Most Aetherians did (still do) very much think that interspecies relationships were out of the question--it's probably rooted in their experiences with the thyft, which has hardwired them to regard anything that is clearly sentient but not a spirit to be a potential threat, or at least untrustworthy and beneath them. I think Cuppra felt for quite a while early on that, while they and Suuhl had been fooling around for a time, they would be crossing some sort of terrible line if it went any farther than that. Suuhl, obviously, thought this was incredibly stupid.

(And if you're wondering, the Cynn never knew about Cuppra's relationships outside of work. They never took much of an interest in their ethkarins' personal lives, not because they didn't care at all, but because you just don't do that with ethkarin.)

Now for a timeline of sorts:

The war starts to go bad when it becomes clear that Aetheri doesn't quite have the capability to make permanent doors between their world and Earth required for getting troops and supplies through consistently. They can't defend their colonies on Earth from the native monsters who very much want these literal aliens to fuck off. Someone in the world of the Palace gets it in their head that physically attaching their own universe to Earth's is the best way to make passage between the two stable, and the top magic users for that sort of thing began massaging this theory.

Meanwhile, the reifa living in Hymntup (the old name for Escalus, the capital city) have mostly integrated extremely well with the regular citizens. People have been organizing by neighborhood to drive off the thyft as they come hunting, and the reifa, having the physical ability to hurt the thyft where the spirits' magic cannot, are well-liked in their new home neighborhoods. Things are going well.

Then two things happen close together: a group of magic-users under the direction of the Cynn tries to move the universe and succeeds only in snuffing out a few others, followed by what can only be described as a culling, wherein a large group of the thyft all enter Hymntup at once and begin killing anyone they can get their hands on.

These two events completely destabilize both the war effort in the colonies and the home front in Aetheri. It doesn't take long for the reifa to realize that they suddenly cannot go home, that their world is gone, and that this was a result of Aetheri's little experiment. Radh totally and immediately withdraws the reifa from both the front lines and out of their communities in Hymntup, and they convene just outside the city in order to talk about what happened and what to do. The culling by the thyft starts immediately after this, while news is spreading to the rest of Hymntup about what they've inadvertently done to their new friends, and while the communities are now short of the people that were helping them defend against the thyft the most.

The Palace--completely protected from the thyft and out of touch with the rest of the city--was busy at this moment trying to do damage control elsewhere. The withdrawal of the reifa from Aetheri's Earth settlements kneecapped the forces there, and it was quickly turning into a slaughter. The monsters on Earth just Knew something Big had happened, but they didn't know what, only that Aetheri had done it. Aetherian forces were being routed out of their settlements so quickly that the most the Cynn could do was try to get them all evacuated before the monsters of Earth got them. At the same time, the Palace is trying to figure out what the hell just happened--no one had expected anything to go catastrophically wrong with the whole world-moving thing, more that it just wouldn't work at all, if anything. What the Cynn and the Palace was not paying attention to was any of the issues going on down in Hymntup, leaving everyone there to essentially fend for themselves.

This was when the fires were lit. Someone somewhere decided that, absent the help of the Aetherian army and the Palace and the reifa, people would have to take matters into their own hands to stop the culling the thyft were enacting on them. It was probably one of the neighborhood defense groups who thought they would do a controlled burn around the city to clear the trees away, ridding the thyft of their habitat, so that they'd have to cross miles of bare land to get to Hymntup and would be easily spotted as they did. It had been a normally damp year, and the trees were massive, so perhaps they poured more magic into it than was necessary. Or perhaps they just underestimated the amount of strength it would take to control the fires once even one tree was engulfed.

Either way, the fire got out of their control in the early morning hours, and by the time it was spotted by the city at large, it had multiplied and multiplied on itself, eating its way up a tree tens of stories tall. Hymntup was under-equipped to deal with a large fire at that moment as it was, what with the war and the culling taking its toll on their population, but brigades of people showed up to try and contain it, only to find that they couldn't. Instead they fell back and began encircling the city with fire repellent spells, in case the blaze in the tree did not burn itself out as they hoped.

Of course it didn't. There was a lot more dead wood in those trees than people had thought, and one by one, they all caught, until you could not see from Hymntup in any direction but for a wall of fire. The spells around the city offered protection from the brunt of it, but limbs kept dropping from overhead as they burned, damaging buildings and requiring constant response to keep the fires they brought with them from spreading within the city.

All of this time, no one in the Palace did anything about this. The only reason Hymntup did not burn to the ground was because of its own citizens turning out to protect it. And the people in Hymntup realized this, and resentment grew and grew. The fruitless war, the accident that destroyed whole worlds, the lack of any kind of help at all--what use was this government anyway?

Cuppra was at the Palace during much of this time, and they witnessed exactly what was going on. The government there was occupied with withdrawing from Earth, negotiating for prisoners of war with the different tribes of monsters on Earth who had taken them, trying to reverse whatever had happened to the worlds that had disappeared, trying to communicate with Radh and the reifa about this, and deciding what, exactly, to do and say if they couldn't reverse this problem. No one really raised the alarm about the fires until they had gotten totally out of control, and even then, upon finding out that Hymntup citizens had already worked to protect the city's borders, the Cynn sort of dismissed it. They figured, maybe, oh, great, so there's spells around the city, everything is already taken care of then--without another thought for what was actually going on down in Hymntup.

What they did not do, did not even think of doing, was try to send word ahead of the fires in any way to the other towns along the river. The people of Hymntup had to do that, too, using the river as a safe road to the next town, on bespelled boats to outrun the fire. Because of this, Ryvar and most other small towns along the river were able to spell their borders against the flames, and they weathered all right. There was nothing to be done, though, for the people that were still on the roads, or in camps and outposts farther out in the forest--there was no way to even find them all in time.

And then Aetherian soldiers began to come home from Earth. Most had not been warned ahead of time that their entire homeland was burning down. By the time they began arriving, the trees immediately around Hymntup had all completely crumbled, and in every direction the smoke was so thick that they couldn't see much beyond the nearest burned logs; the fires were still near enough that the smoke was luminous, meaning there was a constant, hellish orange glow about the place. The air quality was so bad above ground that most residents had to remain indoors or use the tunnels beneath Hymntup to travel, unless they had spelled masks so that they could breathe. After being so soundly and brutally defeated and driven off of the face of the Earth, this wasn't much of a welcome home.

As Suuhl explains in the comic, despite the fact that the reifa had every right to be completely furious with Aetheri, most couldn't really bring themselves to. They may never be able to go home, but they figured that if their world was truly destroyed, it would have gone so instantaneously that no one there would have noticed, before they simply ceased to exist. And, some of them postulated, there was always the chance that their world wasn't destroyed after all, merely made inaccessible and unable to be seen by the movement of the universes. Considering that in the face of the destruction around Aetheri--and the fact that their pulling out of the fighting on Earth and in Hymntup had gotten a lot of people killed--as a whole, the reifa couldn't do much more than grieve.

This is also where a lot of animosity starts to brew in certain groups of spirits towards the reifa. A lot of the Aetherian soldiers and the loved ones of those who had been killed placed a lot of the blame on the reifa's sudden pull-out on Earth. This is true and fair, to an extent--the war was already on its way to a loss when the whole world-moving thing happened. It wasn't just the reifa going AWOL that resulted in the war being lost, but it didn't help, and perhaps the routing at the end of it all wouldn't have been quite so bloody and brutal with them still fighting. This resentment stays with these Aetherians well after the last reifa had died...and it later served to reinforce the intense dislike by traditionalists for the immigrant monsters in Aetheri in present day.

But aside from those spirits, the reifa were mostly welcomed back. A lot of Aetherians felt they could relate to the intense sadness that the reifa were dealing with now in the face of losing their own world; it sort of bonded the two races together. Aetheri was the reifas' home now, whether they or the spirits liked it or not.

Meanwhile, the tensions between the Palace and Hymntup at large were growing. The Cynn was slowly realizing that things were about to get very bad, as stores of food in the city began to run low and it was clear that no current crops would be surviving or new ones growing for a while under the intense smoke. They didn't have a plan. No one had a plan. The Cynn was even loathe to open the Palace gates and its own stores of food to the populace--in fact, they sort of hid the fact that there were any stores of food in the Palace at all, though everyone in the city knew. Riots started, first just a few here and there, people attempting to get into the Palace one way or another and tangling with the Aetherian army guards in doing so, until pressure built and one day, seemingly out of nowhere, nearly a thousand people (Hymntup had a bigger population back then) showed up at the gates of the Palace and demanded to be let in. The Cynn didn't want them let in. A riot started. The people managed to overrun the guards at the gate, but the layout of the palace grounds worked against them as they would any attackers: they were shuffled into narrower paths between high walls as the land spiraled up around the hill to the Palace, and as they were, Aetherian soldiers were able to attack them from atop the walls...which they did. No one's really sure who gave those orders or if they were even given, but either way, this riot resulted in a couple hundred civilian casualties.

This, of course, escalated things. The Hymntupians (Hymntupites?) were furious, naturally, and more and more talk about undermining the Cynn's power one way or another was starting to be heard. The Cynn, meanwhile, was becoming paranoid--Cuppra would attest that they had almost a complete personality change after the riot at the Palace, becoming convinced that there was an organization of Aetherians out there who were plotting to kill them. This wasn't true (yet), but either way, the Cynn stepped up policing in Hymntup, which really only resulted in innocent people being subject to military brutality for anything that could even distantly be perceived as ill will towards the Cynn--including (and this was the last straw) publicly mourning for the Aetherians killed in the Palace riot.

So for some context, at this point, Cuppra and their siblings were already deeply involved with their communities. Escala (a bellfounder by trade) and Russi (a magical handyman? more or less) were part of their neighborhood's watch team, and they were working closely with the reifa in their neighborhood to help prevent more people from being hunted by the thyft. Ubis (an accomplished healer by this time) donated quite a lot of his time to holding health clinics in his community, doing things like teaching people very simple healing spells that anyone with a lick of magic could do for themselves. Cuppra and Suuhl were the ones that had convinced both of their communities to work together in the first place against the thyft, and they were both sort of well-known as liasons between the two (at this point, plenty of people suspected their relationship, but only Cuppra's siblings knew anything about it for certain.) 

Their roles stepped up quite a bit after the fires started: Escala and the neighborhood watch team were now responsible for feeding the community, pooling resources between neighbors and receiving goods smuggled out of the Palace, a task that became more and more dangerous as time went on; Russi was now working overtime in crews keeping the fire wards around the city maintained, designing spells to filter the air through cloth masks, to filter the ash out of the water, and so on; Ubis's healing talents were well in demand between the smoke and fires and violence in the streets; and Cuppra, of course, was a vital link to knowing what was going on in the Palace.

Here is stuff that I am telling you is what happened, but that has never been actually historically confirmed in-universe, and most Aetherian scholars consider it matters of debate.

1) It was Escala's idea to do a coup, in the end. Escala had a magnetic personality even if he wasn't terribly charismatic, and he had a way of convincing people without really trying. Things were usually very simple to him, mostly because he rarely got emotional about much of anything and had a really sharp, concrete sense of justice. In his view, it went like this:

The Aetherian government has the means and obligation to aid the people, which it is not fulfilling.

The Aetherian government is also now getting in the way of the people helping themselves.

Therefore, get rid of the government and put their resources to better use.

If this cannot be done peacefully, then it will be done violently, because it must be done.

As time went on and things got more and more ugly, people started to come around to this point of view, first in Escala's neighborhood and then beyond, until there were actually enough people on board to even consider revolt.

2) Cuppra is the one who assassinated the Cynn. This was also Escala's idea, because to him it made the most sense to have the person who was already allowed in the Cynn's presence with no suspicion in their most intimate moments commit this act. He figured, this method had the lowest risk and highest chance of success. Like Escala, Cuppra also had a unique personality--they always came off as gentle and unassuming, and no one ever tended to suspect them of anything. Cuppra did not want to do this, because while they were never in love with the Cynn, Cuppra did have some affection for them, or used to. It saddened Cuppra a lot to see the change in the Cynn's personality after the war. Before, perhaps the Cynn could be described as a bit airheaded and careless, but with their paranoia came a cruel streak that slowly started to infect every interaction they had with everyone, including their ethkarin. Cuppra wasn't exactly in denial about this. They knew the Cynn wasn't going to just step down, and they knew that the cruelty that the Cynn displayed now hadn't come from nowhere and likely wouldn't be going away. But Cuppra wasn't much of a killer, and the whole thing haunted them in one way or another for the rest of their days.

Again, this bit is debated historically in Aetheri. All anyone really knows for sure is that the Cynn was murdered in their bed, stabbed once in the back through the heart. Only Cuppra ever knew exactly how it happened.

Things happened very quickly after that. Escala led the revolt, more or less, directing people up into the Palace grounds from the tunnels underneath, where they were able to surprise the army and the nobles. It was over fast, but it was bloody. There is very little violence in general in Aetherian history before and after this point (especially compared to human history) not because Aetherians are a particularly peaceful people, but because in a world where almost everyone has magic and most can use it to a lethal degree if they so choose, any violence at all usually escalates very quickly into atrocity. Generally more thought is put into things before physical force becomes an option for Aetherians...and it helps that there hasn't historically been much that seemed worth exacting that much violence over. In this case, however, the combination of everything built into a revolution that saw hundreds killed just in storming the Palace, and hundreds more later as revolutionary forces and the parts of the military that hadn't immediately abandoned their loyalties to the royal family clashed. At the end of the few weeks that the revolution took, what was left was a palace with quite a bit of the insides burned out (including the throne room), a completely extinguished royal family (and several noble houses as well), a dissolution of all of the retainers and officials that had reported to them, and quite a few revolutionaries who were surprised that they'd gotten this far.

The Palace's stores of food were opened up immediately to the public. It didn't solve the famine, but it was enough to feed the city for a few weeks while other plans could be made. The Palace was actually left pretty much empty while the Aetherians got to work expanding lrecca hatcheries and mushroom farms, harvesting river kelp, thinning out the livestock before they starved, spelling the food they had to be preserved indefinitely--anything they could think of. The other towns along the river were doing much the same, with their own stores of food. This was all happening under Escala's guidance, as he'd found himself in a weird position wherein he'd started giving good direction during the revolt, so people kept looking to him for more afterwards, so he just kept doing what made sense.

And then at some point Russi made her reappearance. She'd been largely absent during the revolt, because it turned out that she was busy creating a huge construct out of dragon bones and compacted earth. She didn't tell anyone she was doing this (these dragons were another ally of the spirits in their bid to colonize a bit of earth, and several of them had lived and died in Aetheri as the reifa did, so using their bones for this seemed a bit wrong--but on the other hand, this was big magic, and there wasn't much material better than bone to do a big magic like this.) Her plan, she explained, was that she was going to send this construct north until it had gotten far enough up into the mountains that it could see the sun. Then it would quite literally swallow the sunlight coming down on it, storing it in its stomach, before turning around and walking home. Then it would park itself in the fields around Aetheri, and shed light enough to grow crops by. Russi planned to make another one, too, so they'd always have one in the fields and one in the mountains, but she confessed she'd like some help doing this next one.

This is a lunatic plan, of course, and it was met with a mixture of wonder and laughter (and a little bit of revulsion, and a little bit of hope.) But Russi's siblings knew her plans usually panned out all right in one way or another, so Escala let her send the first construct shambling off northward and solicited enough volunteers to help her make the next one. And then more, to go afield to other cities and help them make their own constructs, because as nuts as Russi's idea was, it worked. Aetheri starts putting itself back together again, and life goes on, albeit leanly for a long while.

And now the falling action:

Escala sort of ends up as the new Cynn accidentally the way he fell into every other leadership role. He creates the Ettaldhmi to temper the Cynn's power. His Cynnship is long, fair, and humble; he rids it of the ostentation and ritual of the prior royal family, wears the same clothes he wore as a bellfounder, leaves the throne room burnt out and shut away, and takes office instead in a small suite at the top of the Palace, with what became a nice view eventually, when the skies cleared decades later and the ash lands started to absolutely burst with greenery again. The trees never came back, but neither did the thyft, and the ash-filled soil that was left was fertile enough that the Aetherians could hardly use all of the crops they grew.

Russi's constructs, even after the sky had cleared, continued to walk back and forth from Aetheri's river to the mountains in the far north, though eventually they stopped collecting sunlight. They seemed to gain a mind of their own, but eventually they each wound down at some point, resting wherever they fell out in the vast grasslands.

Ubis opened the university in the capital city, which I have already gone on about.

Cuppra and Suuhl both worked with Escala quite a lot, lending a little compassion to his otherwise reason-focused administration. They helped make peace with the Laith people to the north, who were very displeased with all of the smoke and the large constructs rambling through their territories, and they continued to each be a liason to the other's species. They were inseparable to the end of their days. Cuppra lived to the ripe old age of 1056, and Suuhl passed soon after--some would claim that they had died of grief. In fact, that's what Aetherians said about all of the reifa. The reifa were never the same after loosing their homeland, naturally, and one by one over the centuries, they just seemed to fade away. (This is actually another sticking point in the historical literature, because no one's sure if the description of the reifa 'fading' is literal or not.) Either way, Suuhl was not the last reifa in Aetheri, but they were one of them. The last one--Radh--outlived Escala's successor, and then seemed to evaporate from living memory.

Escala was succeeded by his child Yturra, who after their father's death (because he thought these ideas were nonsense in life) renamed Hymntup to Escalus, and oversaw raising the statues of the founders we see in the comic today. The newly-coined d'Escala family continues a quiet, unspectacular reign into the present day.

And now you know...........................the rest of the story.

Thanks for reading! I know this is a long one. I hope it strung some events together for you! It you have questions about this particular point in Aetherian history, let me know!

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How To Thrive When Chronic Illness Disrupts Your Career

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/how-to-thrive-when-chronic-illness-disrupts-your-career/

How To Thrive When Chronic Illness Disrupts Your Career

Your first job is your health. Speak up for what you need and it’s ok to take time for you.

According to the CDC six in ten adults have a chronic disease, creating a common challenge faced by millions every day: How do you make accommodations in your working life for your health needs? 

Part of my own journey to becoming an entrepreneur came out of developing Lyme disease. Prior to becoming ill, I was in a job which was unsustainable for me to continue. I know I’m not alone in this experience. 

I spoke with two other women with chronic Lyme disease who have adapted to the realities of their medical diagnosis and built thriving careers. These women share experience-backed advice for others who are struggling with a chronic illness which is impacting their ability to perform their job. 

Your dreams and ambitions are just as big as before diagnosis. Your illness doesn’t have to stop you from having a rewarding and fulfilling career. 

Emily Levy is the founder of Mightywell, a medical accessories company, along with friend and cofounder Maria del Mar Gomez. Levy was inspired to start Mightywell out of a desire to create the products missing in the marketplace that she wished she had to make the experience of illness easier. For many facing chronic illness, entrepreneurship may become the path not only because it affords flexibility, but also because illness gives unique insights to where there are unmet needs. This births business ideas and newfound passions. Levy felt the demands of a traditional corporate career path would pose too much of a challenge, but even more so, she felt a “resounding yes” at the idea of Mightywell and it became her “North Star.” 

Hannah Olson, founder of Chronically Capable, has had a similar experience to Levy. Olson found herself with no option but to leave her dream job due to her aggressive treatment schedule. Now, she aims to make sure no one ever has to choose between their health and work ambitions. Chronically Capable connects those with chronic illness and disabilities with flexible job opportunities at progressive companies who have greater willingness to be inclusive and make accommodations. Not everyone wants to start a business or has career ambitions in alignment with entrepreneurship. Olson is working to change the employment landscape to ensure entrepreneurship is not a forced choice. She shares her personal insights of working with chronic illness, but also has guidance for those navigating getting accommodations from an employer.

Whether you are or want to be an entrepreneur, or hope to climb the corporate ladder, here are some key things to consider to help you succeed.

Learn to communicate and speak up for your needs 

In running her company Levy says, “I’ve had to learn to be very transparent in my needs. I’m not afraid to tell people, sorry, today I just can’t do it. I’ve certainly had to cancel meetings. And I found that just by being transparent and upfront that this is where I am with my health, people are a lot more understanding.”

Speak up early if you’re in an interview process, advises Olson. “[At Chronically Capable] we try to work really closely with our applicants to encourage them to disclose and ask for accommodations upfront. It’s a lot easier than waiting six months into the job and having to have this awkwardness.” 

If you’re already in a job you’re going to have to speak up if you want accommodations. Keep in mind that, in the United States, you may have some legal rights for accommodations. Do educate yourself on your situation and seek legal counsel. It’s also encouraging to note that regarding Covid-19, Olson says, “There is going to be a change here, we’re in the middle of it. We’ve learned in the last nine months that an employee doesn’t necessarily need to be in an office in order to be productive and that you can be working on your own hours. So many people were left out of the workplace simply because of the fact that they couldn’t physically be in an office. This is opening up a world of opportunities for those who had been previously left out.” 

Hannah Olson, founder of Chronically Capable. Olson advises to speak up early for your needs if … [] you’re in an interview process.

Find community and mentorship 

“There are millions of people with chronic illnesses, but when you have one you can feel like you’re the only person,” says Olson. By finding those who understand, you can provide support to one another as you face similar challenges.  

One person to have in your support circle is a solid mentor. “Mentors have completely changed my life and I’d encourage others to find a mentor in that career path or direction that you’re aspiring to,” shares Levy. Olson echoes how helpful it is to have a mentor with chronic illness and has found mentorship from Levy invaluable. “She knows exactly what I am going through. Like the stress of talking to investors while you’re also going through treatment, and all these things.”

Do what you can, when you can

Levy has learned to be adaptable to the swings of illness. “I would highly recommend for chronic illness founders to bring their laptop to bed if you need to. Some days my legs don’t want to come with me but my brain works. I’ll send emails or do funding research. And then there are days I can’t look at a screen and will put on a podcast to keep learning.” 

Levy also suggests trying to plan ahead for when you know your symptoms may flare or needs may change. “I think what a lot of people don’t understand about chronic illness is that I can be on for that three hour event, but they don’t see that for three days after, that’s going to put me in bed. I try to plan ahead so if we know I’m speaking at our industry’s top conference of the year in Las Vegas, we need to make sure I’m taking time off afterwards, at least so I can work from bed.” 

Get support from colleagues or build a team 

“Getting support from your colleagues is another really great tactic. Having those people as your allies and advocates is so helpful because sometimes a manager just might not understand,” explains Olson.  

And if you start a company, don’t go it alone, advises Levy. While entrepreneurship has flexibility it’s still demanding, making it necessary to build a team of support. Maria Del Mar Gomez and Yousef Al-Humaidhi are Levy’s cofounders and together they have worked to ensure the company’s mission is still being supported whether Levy is in the office or not. Del Mar Gomez has become an invaluable support for Levy. “Especially when we were going through Morgan Stanley’s accelerator, there were plenty of times where I’d get fully ready, I’d put on the hair, the makeup, the outfit, get out the door and I would get to work and I would be drained. And on those days, I would call Maria. We just have this amazing bond where we kind of speak each other’s language.” 

Maria Del Mar Gomez (left) and Emily Levy (right), cofounders of Mightywell. Levy advises that if … [] you start a company, don’t go it alone.

Your first job is your health 

“My health really is my first job, and Mightywell, for better or worse will always be my second job, because if my health isn’t there, I can’t really function at work,” explains Levy. This is a sentiment shared by Olson who adds, “Managing your chronic illness in itself can be like a part-time or full-time job.” She advises taking time off or slowing down if you can financially afford to. “It’s ok to take time for you. We’re so forced as a society to believe that we have to work all the time, I had to teach myself it’s okay to slow down and for a while I was working a part-time job.” 

Recognize the benefits and strengths you’ve gained 

Chronic illness nudges you to learn important skills and life lessons everyone ill or not would benefit from. It’s really a masterclass in personal development.   

“We talk so much about all that has been taken from us with our illness. And it’s true, so much has been stripped of me, but I’ve also gained so much,” says Olson. “And I think that the media doesn’t represent the strength and opportunities that illness has given us as well. I wouldn’t regret being chronically ill now because I’ve been able to learn and do so much more than I ever would’ve.” 

Olson suggests using your cover letters to address your illness and highlight these strengths. “Talk about what are the unique skills and attributes that you’ve gained through this horrible experience, because that could make you an incredible worker. I’ve gained so much resilience, time management skills, I’m highly adaptable and able to balance a lot of different things. I understand the importance of taking breaks. You gain so much empathy for the people around you and it makes you such a great colleague. You are an asset.” 

Levy agrees and adds that as an entrepreneur illness makes her much more focused. “With limited energy, you have to really be maniacal about what things you’re spending your time on. It forces you to keep an eye on your North Star, and make sure that you’re being true to yourself and why you started this.”

From Careers in Perfectirishgifts

[painterlegendx]

The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6

I aboriginal saw images by Matthew Wong aback he acquaint them on amusing media. Like others who apprehend his posts, as able-bodied as apprehend his interviews, I abstruse that he was alive in Hong Kong and that he accelerating from the University of Michigan (2007) with a amount in Cultural Anthropology. In 2012, afterwards admission from the City University of Hong Kong School of Creative Media with a MFA in photography, he began painting, initially starting with a account book and a canteen of ink and authoritative “a blend every day randomly.”

File:'Landscape' by Edward Edmondson, Jr., 6-6, Dayton .. | landscape painting 1880 In the online annual Altermodernists (October 29, 2014), area I apprehend the the antecedent citation, I additionally came beyond this account by Wong:Art is all-embracing in my circadian life.  When I’m not working, I’m at the library accomplishing analysis into the history of art, addition out area I can fit into the greater chat amid artists throughout time, or on the internet attractive at art-related websites and agreeable in chat on amusing media with artists and art-world abstracts about the world.In 2013, Wong and I had a abrupt barter through the aback approach of Facebook. He was aggravating to acquisition a archetype of my book, In the Realm of Appearances: The Art of Andy Warhol (1993) and wrote to me. We agreed to accomplish a trade. I beatific him a archetype of the book and he beatific me a pencil drawing.I was reminded of this barter aback I went to see the exhibition Matthew Wong at Karma (March 22 – April 29, 2018), his aboriginal abandoned show. For the account of transparency, I feel that I should acknowledgment our exchange. especialy because Wong blue-blooded one of his paintings “The Realm of Appearances” (2018).

Landscape Artists - Paul Cézanne - landscape painting 1880 | landscape painting 1880 Wong’s exhibition is disconnected into two groups, oil paintings and watercolors. Given that he has been painting for a little added than bristles years, I am addled by area he has gotten himself. The oil paintings bang me as added adventuresome than the watercolors. I anticipate this has do with differences in calibration , as able-bodied as able-bodied the accurate challenges presented by the materials. In both sets of works, he uses baby marks of acrylic to ascertain his forms, but there is a abundant bigger amplitude to ample and with his canvases. than in the modestly-scaled watercolors.In the paintings, Wong gain mark by mark after alive in beforehand what will appear or area he will go. In the watercolors, the accountable seems bent in advance. The marks are beyond in affiliation to the format, and added descriptive. As a result, the capacity tend to be added accepted — an autogenous or a still-life, which is what we ability accepted to acquisition in a assignment of this size. The best watercolors arm-twist a accurate atmospheric light, such as “Night” (2017) and “January’s Window” (2018). They ability be what you would see in an exhibition of an artisan afflicted by Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Wonner, or Elmer Bischoff aback they were painterly realists.Something abroad happens in the paintings. Wong makes countless lines, dots, daubs, and short, abundant brushstrokes, eventually accession at an abstract mural that tilts abroad from the account even at an odd angle. A painterly cartographer, Wong actually feels his way beyond the landscape, dot by dot, acrylic achievement by acrylic stroke.If he adds a sky and mountains in the distance, as he does in “The Realm of Appearances,” he offers two allegory credibility of view. The foregrounded mural is agee advancement so that the red ground, activated by blue, white, and blooming dots and lines, spreads out afore you until it alcove the abject of the aboveboard planes of the dejected mountains (or are they rolling waves?), gray-blue sky, and a butter-colored moon.

ANTIQUE LANDSCAPE PAINTING | “Bamberg Bavaria” Oil Painting .. | landscape painting 1880 Each dot and band is distinct, and every bit of the red mural is filled. Our absorption accouterment aback and alternating amid mural (depiction) and brushstroke (the audible mark). It is absurd to ascertain any irony or apathy aural the marks. The alteration of their size, direction, and blush underscores Wong’s alive assurance with the painting. This is decidedly axiomatic aural assertive clusters of agnate brushstrokes, area accentuation changes with the addition of white. These accouterment anticipate the painting from acceptable absolutely collapsed and airless.Although not anon evident, the landscapes are busy by at atomic one amount and sometimes more, all abandoned from anniversary other. While others accept acicular out that Wong’s adjustment of mark-making links him to Vincent van Gogh, Georges Seurat, or to Gustave Klimt, I anticipate that these readings are too abounding appear Western art. The paintings of Peter Doig accept additionally been frequently mentioned as a touchstone. These angle abort to acknowledgment how important Asian art is to Wong’s development, decidedly carved lacquerware.In the orange-dominated, aboveboard landscape, “Somewhere” (2018) and the black-dominated, accumbent landscape, “Figure in a Night Landscape” (2017), the monochromatic brushstrokes adjoin a allegory arena are commensurable to the incised apparent of lacquerware. Also, the aberrant optical ability of Wong’s paintings assume to be aggressive by lacquerware’s absorption to detail and comfort of marks, abnormally aback it comes to depicting dragon scales, waves, or feathers. Wong’s assurance with Western and Eastern art, from painterly painting to awful stylized, activity accelerated craft, seems to me to be axial to his work.As abundant as one ability ascertain access to added artists and traditions, Wong’s arranged scenes are his own. The figures, which afflict the landscape, can be apprehend as surrogates for the artisan alive his way through the mural of art; he is both anchored in the acrylic and accepting a chat with it. In anniversary scene, it is bright that the amount cannot see that far into the landscape, that he or she is actually amidst by paint.

The Falls of St. Anthony, 6-6 | Albert bierstadt .. | landscape painting 1880 The abundant dots and short, attenuated brushstrokes of “Figure in a Night Landscape” accentuate Wong’s growing strengths: he is accompanying belly and optical, amenable for every inch of the apparent while accession at an improvised agreement that strikes this viewer, at least, as all-important and insistent. The abandoned figure, which seems to be gender indeterminate, cutting a red, hooded robe, appears to accept been plunked bottomward into this abounding landscape, the arena blowzy with what could be leaves or stones. There is no assurance of the aisle the amount took, nor any adumbration of area that being will go. The angle of the arch evokes abounding altered readings, from abashed to hardly mournful.Wong’s paintings around claiming a long-held ageism summed up by Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The Ballad of East & West” (1889), which opens with the age-old line: “East is East and West is West and never the brace shall meet.” In his paintings, Wong has brought calm audible strands of Western and Eastern art and fabricated them into article that is acutely his. It is not about adapting to one ability or another, but about arresting as abundant as he can until the antecedent becomes beneath and beneath important to point out. That seems to me to be the approaching of painting.Matthew Wong continues at Karma (188 East 2nd Street, East Village, Manhattan) through April 29. The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6 - landscape painting 1880 | Encouraged for you to my personal website, in this particular occasion I am going to provide you with with regards to keyword. And today, here is the very first picture:

Amazon.com: Claude Monet (Landscape at Vetheuil, 6) Hand .. | landscape painting 1880 What about impression earlier mentioned? is actually that incredible???. if you think and so, I'l m demonstrate a number of impression again underneath: So, if you want to obtain these wonderful graphics about (The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6), simply click save button to save the photos to your laptop. They're prepared for download, if you'd rather and wish to own it, click save logo in the post, and it will be directly down loaded to your desktop computer.} Lastly if you wish to secure new and the latest picture related to (The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6), please follow us on google plus or save this blog, we try our best to provide regular up grade with fresh and new photos. We do hope you like staying here. For many up-dates and recent information about (The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6) pics, please kindly follow us on twitter, path, Instagram and google plus, or you mark this page on bookmark section, We attempt to offer you up-date periodically with all new and fresh graphics, enjoy your searching, and find the right for you. Thanks for visiting our site, articleabove (The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6) published .  Nowadays we're delighted to announce we have discovered an incrediblyinteresting nicheto be reviewed, that is (The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6) Many people attempting to find details about(The Ten Reasons Tourists Love Landscape Painting 6 - Landscape Painting 6) and of course one of these is you, is not it?

LANDSCAPE PAINTING BY R. MARSHALL, 6 | Painting .. | landscape painting 1880 Read the full article

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Improve(Increase) Your Process Service In 3 Days

Hiring an attorney is usually a tricky process; they all claim to be experts in their fields, not to ever be bettered. The decision-making process is a vital one inch this example because hiring an inadequate you are likely to be costly in each and every sense of the saying.

So how do you separate excellence from your inferior? This article will state some of the steps you could choose to use be sure that much more need of a solicitor, you understand how to discover the correct.

How to Find the Right Solicitor for You

The first thing to realize is that there isn't any one size fits all method of finding a good solicitor. All solicitors are experts in numerous areas also it varies from case to case when it comes to which is likely to be the most effective fit.

The first step everyone should take is usually to do a few research. Research is easier now laptop or computer ever has become with thanks to the prominence with the internet - it is actually invaluable.

One of the top practical information on research is The Law Society. The Law Society represents solicitors in England and Wales; their purpose is always to represent and promote solicitors as a whole within England and Wales. They have a searchable database that gives info on attorneys.

Another interesting feature in the Law Society is its accreditation scheme - Lexcel. To receive accreditation, firms must show that they meet high management and care standards. Reaccreditation occurs annually too to make certain standards remain high. While this is not only a guarantee of quality, it might generally certainly be a good indicator.

Another website worth looking at will be the Legal 500 website. The Legal500 is really a variety of legal market intelligence; additionally they provide information on individual lawyers in over 90 different countries including strengths, weaknesses, strategies, sectors, and rankings. It can be quite a great tool to check firms when deciding which could be perfect for a career. An example profile in the Legal 500 can be found in the authors bio box below.

Qualifications and awards are all good but tend to only go thus far. Another quality pointer is person to person reviews. There are websites available that collate reviews from people who detail their experiences with certain firms and therefore are really worth looking through. One thing to note though is always that often people handle one specific person after a case and their experiences achievable sole person usually are not always reflective upon the entire firm.

Online forums and forums can also be good methods of uncovering people's experiences.

Once you've got collated a shortlist, the next thing is face-to-face meetings. Ring first as numerous firms offer free 30 minute consultations. Do this for a couple of firms and once you've visited them all, use your best judgment to pick.

The Complaints Procedure

Even with all of the care and diligence on earth, sometimes you could be unlucky. This rings true when looking for any solicitor. Although 99% turn out professionals, there is certainly still the odd cowboy not worth his (or her) salt.

Because of the money involved while confronting solicitors, it will become more essential how the correct steps be taken in regards to complaining. Luckily, this procedure is now easier lately because of the introduction in the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman relates to complaints from all of parts with the legal. The ombudsman makes all the legal complaints procedure transparent, faster and more efficient compared to years elapsed. The legal ombudsman costs nothing to use for individuals and (very) small business owners.

There is really a specific group of valid grounds for complaint. If these are met, then it may be worth contacting the Ombudsman.

If there is another issue that you will be concerned about though, it may always be worth contacting the ombudsman. It is worth noting however that being unhappy with all the outcome of a case isn't grounds to get a case, regardless of how irritated you could be.

In the 21st Century, in the event you require legal services a the avenue for call may be the internet as opposed to the local firm. Nowadays, there are lots of firms who can cope with your case over the phone and with the internet, which suggests there exists no need to look local. Yet, despite moving into a web based age, many of us continue to decide on local solicitors - and there are a fantastic quantity of logic behind why. In this article, we'll be exploring why we still owe allegiance to local solicitors and why browsing on the internet isn't necessarily cheaper and faster.

First things first, though, why do you not utilize a local solicitor?

One particular reason behind going through the internet is the potential money saved. You can utilize a comparison site and search for the top -wise in the solicitors you will find online are larger operations and specialize in certain sectors, a passionate team for conveyancing for instance.

With that said, you can find far more compelling reasons to actually go a nearby route...

1. Face-to-face contact

This is number 1 out there and a lot important. Face-to-face contact cannot be underestimated in different environment and also this isn't different. To actually have the ability to walk into solicitors (whether you have Berkshire or Bridgend) and deal directly with a person and have your queries answered is priceless.

Most of us prefer to avoid telemarketing companies where possible. There's something about being able to see an individual face-to-face whilst working that provides a degree of assurance. Not to mention, it is easier to understand any advice they're giving as it is much easier and effective to show information one to the other face-to-face - far fewer misunderstandings ensue.

2. Local Knowledge

Who has more knowledge from the law in Berkshire then solicitors positioned in Berkshire? You can benefit not just from other a lot of legal expertise in general but additionally their many years of local experience that may be equally valuable. It can be a distinct advantage to have someone working on your behalf that knows the 'lay with the land' and possesses necessary contacts to resolve any matter inside a timely and efficient way along using a positive outcome. This is especially important when it comes to residential and commercial conveyancing.

3. Client focused

That all important personal touch. They are focused on you, the client. This is something you don't get inside more faceless company dealings what your location is more likely just a case number. Using solicitors in Berkshire signifies that they can adjust to suit you; not a one size fits all, but an arranged procedure for your individual situation. You want to find a solicitor who cares the other to get the required attention and time.

4. Reduced transaction times

Working directly with solicitors in the local area should also equal a quicker resolution of your respective case. No-one wants the worries and frustration of the legal matter occurring and on -so you will need the speediest end with it it is possible to plausibly find. This is due to the fact you will be working so closely with these and checking in regularly. This ensures they may be unlikely to obtain side-tracked along with other cases and projects.

Ultimately, this will depend giving you and your very own needs. Local solicitors provide a physical, dependable service you'll be able to access whenever necessary. Knowing precisely who you are coping with ensures that you obtain the right a higher level service (and can spark a stink if the service just isn't provided!). It also ensures that you are inside loop always. There are just a few cases in which a local team may not be the proper choice; if you might have an incredibly niche legal need for instance - or require power of your very experienced, powerful legal firm in The City.

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The Process Service That Wins Customers

In the 21st Century, if you require legal services your first the avenue for call will be the internet rather than your neighborhood firm. Nowadays, there are numerous firms who can handle your case over the phone and with the internet, which suggests there's no need to travel local. Yet, despite moving into a web-based age, many people continue to choose local solicitors - and there are a fantastic quantity of logic behind why. In this article, we'll be exploring why we still owe allegiance to local solicitors and why browsing on the internet isn't always cheaper and faster.

First things first, though, why do you not make use of a local solicitor?

One particular reason for going over the internet will be the potential money saved. You can use a comparison site and find the most effective -wise of the solicitors you'll find online are larger operations and are experts in certain sectors, a separate team for conveyancing for instance.

With that said, you'll find much more compelling why you should actually go the area route...

1. Face-to-face contact

This is number 1 out there and many important. Face-to-face contact cannot be underestimated in any environment and also this is no different. To actually have the ability to head into solicitors (whether you enter Berkshire or Bridgend) and deal directly with a person and still have your queries answered is priceless.

Most of us would rather avoid call centers where possible. There's something about being able to see someone face-to-face whilst conducting business that gives a degree of assurance. Not to mention, it's much simpler to comprehend any advice they may be giving as it is easier and effective to mention information to one another directly - far fewer misunderstandings ensue.

2. Local Knowledge

Who has more knowledge from the law in Berkshire then solicitors located in Berkshire? You can benefit not simply off their years of legal experience in general but additionally their many years of local experience which can be equally valuable. It is a distinct benefits of have someone fixing your behalf to know the 'lay with the land' and possesses necessary contacts to resolve any matter in the timely and efficient way along using a positive outcome. This is especially important with regards to residential and commercial conveyancing.

3. Client focused

That all important personal touch. They are devoted to you, the consumer. This is something you aren't getting in the more faceless company dealings where you are more inclined just an instance number. Using solicitors in Berkshire ensures that they are able to accommodate suit you; not a one size fits all, but a structured way of your own situation. You want to find a solicitor who cares the other to receive the required attention and time.

4. Reduced transaction times

Working directly with solicitors in your neighborhood area must also equal a quicker resolution of your respective case. No-one wants the load and frustration of the legal matter going on and on -so you'll want the speediest end into it you can plausibly find. This is since you'll be working so closely using them and checking in regularly. This ensures they are not as likely to obtain side-tracked with other cases and projects.

Ultimately, this will depend on you and your very own needs. Local solicitors offer a physical, dependable service you'll be able to access whenever necessary. Knowing precisely what you are managing makes sure that you obtain the right a higher level service (which enable it to cause a stink if this type of service just isn't provided!). It also ensures that you are in the loop all the time. There are only a few cases when a local team may not be the correct choice; if you've an incredibly niche legal need by way of example - or require the power of a very experienced, powerful legal firm in The City.

Hiring a lawyer could be a tricky process; each of them claim to be experts within their fields, never to be bettered. The decision-making process is an important one out of this example because hiring an inadequate one is likely to be costly in most feeling of the saying.

So how do you separate excellence from the inferior? This article will state a number of the steps that you could take to be sure that while in need of a lawyer, you understand how to obtain the right one.

How to Find the Right Solicitor for You

The first thing to realize is there isn't any one size fits all method of hiring a good solicitor. All solicitors are experts in several areas and it is different from case to case in relation to that's probably be the very best fit.

The first step everyone should take would be to do a little research. Research is easier now pc ever may be thanks to the prominence with the internet - it truly is invaluable.

One of the most effective helpful research is The Law Society. The Law Society represents solicitors in England and Wales; their purpose would be to represent and promote solicitors in general within England and Wales. They have a searchable database that gives information about attorneys.

Another interesting feature with the Law Society is its accreditation scheme - Lexcel. To receive accreditation, firms must reveal that they meet high management and care standards. Reaccreditation occurs annually too to make sure standards remain high. While this is not just a guarantee of quality, it can generally be described as a good indicator.

Another website worth looking at will be the Legal 500 website. The Legal500 can be a number of legal market intelligence; in addition they provide info on individual lawyers in over 90 different countries including strengths, weaknesses, strategies, sectors, and rankings. It could be a great tool that compares firms when deciding which will be perfect for a career. An example profile in the Legal 500 are available in the authors resource box below.

Qualifications and awards are common well and good but can only go so far. Another quality pointer is person to person reviews. There are websites out there that collate reviews from people who detail their experiences with certain firms and therefore are well worth looking through. One thing to note though is the fact that often people deal with one specific person after a case as well as their experiences with that sole person aren't always reflective upon the entire firm.

Online forums and boards are also good strategies to uncovering people's experiences.

Once you've got collated a shortlist, the next task is face-to-face meetings. Ring first as numerous firms offer free 30 minute consultations. Do this for the handful of firms as soon as you've got visited all of them, takes place best judgment to pick.

The Complaints Procedure

Even with each of the care and diligence on earth, sometimes you can be unlucky. This rings true when looking for a solicitor. Although 99% are professionals, there's still the odd cowboy not worth his (or her) salt.

Because of the money involved when confronted with solicitors, it will become more essential how the correct steps be studied when it comes to complaining. Luckily, this process is now easier in recent times due to introduction from the Legal Ombudsman. The Legal Ombudsman relates to complaints from all parts with the legal. The ombudsman helps to make the legal complaints procedure transparent, faster and much more efficient when compared to years elapsed. The legal ombudsman is free of charge to use for individuals and (very) small businesses.

There is really a specific set of valid grounds for complaint. If some of these are met, it will be worth contacting the Ombudsman.

If there is certainly another issue that you're worried about though, it might be worth contacting the ombudsman. It is worth noting however that being unhappy using the results of a case is not grounds for any case, regardless of how irritated you may well be.

[mollydpowellus]

Top PR Predictions for 2018

The year 2017 redefined the importance of investing in public relations. Between the political atmosphere, corporate gaffes and blazing hot media circuit, it was a year for the PR history books.

So, what did we learn? The team at Tech Image pulled together their top predictions for the year to come, pooling their collective knowledge of what agencies will need to consider to pull away from the pack.

The PR Best Agencies Will Need to Integrate with Sales and Marketing Platforms by Andy Ambrosius, Account Manager

As more and more agencies tout an expertise in all things “digital,” it’ll be time for them to put their money where their mouth is. PR has always been very loosely tied to sales, but as we become more digitally savvy, how do we prove that stories actually influence sales?

Tools like TrendKite recently launched technology that tracks web trends, showing when someone reads your article and then visits your website, and integrating with platforms like HubSpot. It’s also fairly easy to create custom landing pages during product launches that integrate with sales platforms like Salesforce. You just need to get creative and have the know-how to get it done.

Invest in Original Content by Mary Beth Nevulis, Content Manager

Just like Netflix, Amazon, HBO and Hulu now produce their own television shows and movies, in 2018, more brands will make a push toward creating original content, reflective of brand voice and without a heavy sales pitch behind it. Credible, informative original content on important industry topics gains more trust than advertising in many cases, creating real value for a target audience through meaningful storytelling, while still planting a seed that may grow into a purchase.

Close the Diversity Gap in PR Agencies by Dan O’Brien, President

Most PR agencies continue to fall short of diverse employment, which impedes their ability to hire the best talent and represent the constituents that are most important to clients.

In today’s supercharged political climate, where race is at the center of the debate, it’s important for PR agencies – in fact, all companies – to review their hiring criteria with regard to diversity. According to the 2016 U.S. Census, African Americans make up 13.3 percent of the population, but they are only represented in eight percent of PR agencies. But I’m defining diversity beyond simply race; we need to increase opportunities for everyone, regardless of gender, LGBT, religion and socio-economic status.

Influencers Will Take a Front Seat by Dana Van Duerm, Media Relations Associate

The practice of using influencers to boost brand image will only continue to grow in 2018. However, before investing time and money, brands must realize how important it is to target the right influencers – and that includes doing research. Influencers should seamlessly align with a brand’s mission and values, so a relationship isn’t forced or portrayed poorly. Although we see big-name brands investing in their fair share of influencers to promote their message, products and beyond, B2B companies can leverage building relationships with niche, industry-specific bloggers, or key people who share common brand beliefs to build credibility.

Authenticity Will Be More Important Than Ever by Yvonne Gonzalez, Media Relations Coordinator

Countless studies have shown that people value a company that stays true to its brand standards and cares about its customers. Yet we live in a time where if a company is not fully transparent about a crisis or misstep to the public, this information can go viral via social and traditional media, resulting in the company losing its credibility and its audience’s trust. Companies need to push hard to stay authentic in their messaging and the services they provide, and PR professionals need to help keep them honest.

Expect Everything to Take On a Digital Component by Rachel Klein, Media Relations Associate

Today’s digital generation is redefining public relations. More and more, people expect digital, interactive and engaging content from brands, and we’ll begin to see this permeate public relations. Press releases, for example, are traditional, wordy and hard to look at. Future press releases will be more visual, embedding images, graphics or videos alongside text. Even campaigns are becoming more interactive. Many incorporate videos, infographics or landing pages that encourage a call to action. These elements make a brand more visually appealing and better allow consumers to connect with a brand.

PR Will Get Serious About Cybersecurity by Jeff More, Sr. Media Relations Coordinator

Every organization is a potential cyber attack target, and every year sees a new record in the ferocity of such attacks. Last year, DNS Registrar Dyn was hit with a DDoS attack driven by hijacked IoT devices with an attack strength of 1.2Tbps, disrupting a large portion of the internet. In May, the WannaCry ransomware attack infected nearly a quarter million computers in a single day, shutting down critical networks, including the U.K.’s National Health Service. More recently, credit reporting agency Equifax revealed the personal information it kept on nearly half the U.S. population had been stolen by cybercriminals.

We’re almost guaranteed to see another record-breaker in 2018. PR teams representing organizations that possess large amounts of personal customer data will need to get serious about having a response plan in place in the event of a cybersecurity crisis. Such plans will go beyond pre-drafted statements, and include systems of communication between cybersecurity, executive and comms teams to ensure that stakeholders and affected parties are promptly informed of the situation and adequate action is being taken.

Organizations taking responsible steps to protect their customer data can also look for PR opportunities around the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPF), which will take effect in May and affect all countries doing business with the EU. This presents an opportunity to put cybersecurity experts in the spotlight and highlight cybersecurity projects that bring organizations into compliance with the regulation.

Artificial Intelligence Will Reveal New Opportunities by Lydia Castillo, Digital Media Associate

AI and big data are the elephants in the room. Although there is a lot of talk about AI’s negative impacts, there is another side to the story.

As more AI is sewn into readership’s lives, it will give PR agencies quantifiable insight into their real interests. It will enable PR agencies to better process and understand data at a faster pace, and thus improve how they deliver their messages and what they choose to deliver. Agencies need to embrace AI and big data trends to experiment with new, strong stories that match data analysis.

#FakeNews by Katie O’Rourke, Account Coordinator

Considering all the events that took place in the mainstream media landscape in 2017, especially around the presidential election, in 2018, more news outlets will defend their research and sources. In 2017, The Wall Street Journal launched “The Face of Real News,” a campaign that features animated WSJ reporters telling the story of how they investigated their biggest stories, and other news outlets will soon follow their example in the race for credibility.

B2B Takes Center Stage by Harvey Henao, Account Manager

Consumer technology has long been the darling of tech PR. After all, who doesn’t like the flashiest new gadget or the latest home automation system? Consequently, tech PR has historically focused on reaching consumers. But lurking behind the curtain has always been business-to-business (B2B) communications. As more companies realize that what really moves the needle are enterprise customers, we will begin to see more dollars allocated toward B2B communications strategies. Marketers are projected to increase their public relations budgets over the next five years, according to a joint report from the Association of National Advertisers and the USC Center for Public Relations. With digital and social strategies becoming more prevalent and robust, marketers are realizing the power of smart PR strategies – for both consumers and B2B. 2018 will go down as the year B2B PR went from being an afterthought to the main driver of a company’s success.

Big Data Will Have a Big Impact by Matt Pera, Account Manager

The rise of Big Data has been fast and steep, and 2018 is almost sure to see that trend continue – and the next frontier is learning how to leverage that data with actionable strategies. In the world of digital PR, Big Data can provide predictive analytics and insights that are incredibly valuable for clients – such as which of their articles perform best and why, how readers find specific stories or press releases, or how share of media voice is distributed among competitors. Big Data affords a way to predict audience behavior and preferences that PR professionals would have never dreamed of as recently as five years ago. Welcome to the future.

It’s All Going to Be About Automation by Joe Calderone, Sr. Digital Media Coordinator

As many platforms have implemented algorithms in years past to manage what users see, 2018 will bring further automation into how users engage with brands. Right now chatbots are in their infancy, but as Facebook specifically increases their machine learning, we’ll see the capabilities of these bots increase tenfold. Also in the automation field, we should see an increase in proximity marketing through social media platforms. Look for increased capabilities around how low-energy Bluetooth beacons interact with social media platforms as well.

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